R.B. Bennett

Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett (3 July 1870-26 June 1947) was Prime Minister of Canada from 7 August 1930 to 23 October 1935, interrupting William Lyon Mackenzie King's two terms in office. He was a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Biography
Richard Bedford Bennett was born in Hopewell Hill, New Brunswick, Canada on 3 July 1870, and he studied law at Dalhousie and practiced in Calgary. He was elected to the Alberta legislature in 1909 as a Conservative Party of Canada member, and he became an MP in 2011. He was disappointed at not being appointed to the federal government by Prime Minister Robert Borden, so he stood down in the 1917 elections. He was appointed Minister of Justice under Prime Minister Arthur Meighen in 1921, despite his failure to return to Parliament until 1925. He became leader of the Conservative Party in 1927 due to his status as a brilliant parliamentary speaker, and he won the general election of 1930 on a promise to overcome the Great Depression. However, Bennett was indecisive and was unable to develop a coherent program. Bennett persuaded the British to surrender their policy of free trade and encouraged the granting of preferential tariffs to Canadian goods in the UK. Apart from this, however, Bennett's policies were half-hearted and ineffective, and the 1935 announcement of proposed major social reforms did nothing to help him. He lost re-election to Liberal Party of Canada candidate William Lyon Mackenzie King, and he remained the leader of the Conservative opposition until he retired to England in 1938. He died in Mickleham, Surrey in 1947.